Case Number 12950: Small Claims Court

THE OMEGA MAN (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

"The definition of a scientist: A man who understands nothing, until there is
nothing left to understand." -- Matthias

The Case

While my esteemed colleagues have covered most of the details in their
respective reviews of The Omega Man, I'll take a more visceral approach
to this cult classic.

Looking back on the box office of 1971, there was a theme of discontent
bubbling to the surface. As art often imitates life, the American culture had
come down from its "Summer of Love" high and the withdrawal was not
pleasant. Mired in Vietnam, with economic inflation on the rise, and reports of
the Kent State shooting and the Manson Family murders still fresh in people's
minds, there was a great deal concern throughout the country. And when creative
folks are frustrated with the present, they often look to the future with
optimism or abject pessimism.

Two of the biggest films released that year were Stanley Kubrick's A
Clockwork Orange and The Andromeda Strain, Robert Wise's big screen
adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel. Both painted bleak worlds where man's
overzealous ambition intentionally or unintentionally led to horrifying results.
Two other films of note were Billy Friedkin's The French Connection and
Clint Eastwood's franchise launching Dirty Harry where gritty, street
realism met the underbelly of modern society. All of these elements combine to
paint a fascinating backdrop for director Boris Sagal, and screenwriters Joyce
and John William Corrington's re-envisioning of Richard Matheson's bestseller
I Am Legend.

When China and the Soviet Union blow each other to kingdom come via
biochemical nuclear weapons, the fallout reaches the United States in the form
of a devastating plague. News reports chronicle citizens dropping like flies.
Regardless of whether they were shopping, pumping gas, watching television, or
simply crossing the street, no one is immune. Meanwhile, holed up in what looks
to be Major Anthony Nelson's office from I Dream of Jeannie, Colonel
Neville is hard at work developing a potential vaccine. Called away to an
important meeting, he grabs his research and hops into an awaiting helicopter.
Unfortunately, in mid flight, the pilot contracts the plague and the copter
crashes into the foothills of the mountains. Broken, bleeding, and fearing the
plague might claim him next, Neville claws his way over to his last remaining
vaccine sample and injects himself, thus becoming The Omega Man...or so
he thinks.

Let's not pull punches. The Omega Man is a guilty pleasure
cheesefest, regarded more for its camp than its somewhat heavy handed message.
Charlton Heston plays Colonel Robert Neville with the same macho bravado he
brought to every role. He was the archetypal hero of the period; a streamlined,
thinking man's Schwarzengger playing an Americanized version of Sean Connery's
James Bond. Suave, quick witted, astoundingly resourceful, and unflinching when
faced with a fight. In fact, there's a scene where one of the young survivors
asks Neville "Are you God?" and all you want Heston to say is "No, but I do know
him well. I'm Moses."

Unlike I Am Legend which is set in New York, the Corringtons set
their tale in Los Angeles and yet surprisingly never leverage the Hollywood
mystique. Instead, Sagal uses the cavernous downtown landscape, Dodger stadium,
and the Warner Bros. backlot to frame the action. The antagonists in this tale
are a cohesive unit of fallout survivors -- "The Family" -- under the
zealous guidance of former news anchor turned anarchist Jonathan Matthias,
played with gleeful reverence by Anthony Zerbe. These albino inspired, open sore
plagued mutants stay loosely based on Matheson's vampires -- sleeping by day,
scavenging by night -- but seemingly lack overall purpose. While Neville
systematically traverses and documents the city, block by agonizing block to
locate his nemesis, collect necessary supplies, and "shooting at anything
that moves," The Family seems to mirror today's Los Angeles homeless
population, keeping relatively too themselves until confronted by someone or
something who threatens their existence. Case in point, Robert Neville. This
last remaining vestige of the old ways, relying on electricity and modern
conveniences to survive, he is a blight, an apnea to Matthias' dream of
returning humanity to its base evolutionary roots and thus must be
eliminated.

Why Neville chose to setup home for himself in the city, as opposed to the
beach, Beverly Hills, or the mountain resorts of Lake Arrowhead or Big Bear is a
head-scratcher. In fact, had he chosen one of the Hollywood studios in Culver
City or Burbank, he would have had far more tools at his disposal to fend off
The Family's attacks. The stage and set lighting alone would have kept them at
bay for years. But this attack and parry between Neville and Matthias is little
more than the film's background chess match; that is, until our hero comes face
to face with Lisa (Rosalind Cash, Klute), the leader of another band of
non-mutant survivors. Her younger brother is succumbing to the plague and
Neville may be his last hope.

Here's where the film gets interesting. Having Heston play opposite a
strong, black, female love interest -- a relationship that would be recreated
two years later by Roger Moore and Gloria Hendry in Guy Hamilton's Live and
Let Die -- was groundbreaking for its time. Sure the action sequences
between Heston and The Family are fun, but the guts of The Omega Man
resides within the touching rise and fall of Neville and Lisa. It's a
Shakesperean tragedy that evokes images of Romeo and Juliet -- a
seemingly endless conflict, given a glimmer of hope by the discovery of each
other (she once being a member of The Family) and the possibility of creating a
life together far from the world in which they live, only to fall victim to that
which they were trying so desperately to circumvent.

Okay, that may be taking this analysis a bit far. After all, this is a film
with some of the cheesiest footage since Adam West donned the big screen cape
and cowl for Batman: The Movie. However, there is something endearing
about The Omega Man that keeps us coming back for more. Whether it be Rob
Garnier's hypnotic, jazz infused score, Anthony Zerbe and Lincoln Kirkpatrick's
hipster religious banter, a bevy of corpses found in various states of being, or
Heston's vocalized internal monologues, it's the perfect representation of 1970s
American life frozen in digitally enhanced celluloid. A time when pre-owned
vehicles were called "used cars," phones had rotary dials, male actors
had hair on their chests, didn't spend six hours a day in the gym, you could
easily spot the stunt doubles, and special effects blood looked like bright red
paint.

Presented in 2.40:1, 1080p native widescreen, this transfer to Blu-ray is
exceptional. No dirt, no scratches, no faded colors, and no film grain. This is
a window to past through crystal clear glass. The Dolby 1.0 mono audio track is
nothing to get excited about. It all takes place upfront and lacks a robustness
that would have added considerable depth to an otherwise entertaining
presentation.

The bonus materials as exactly the same ones you'll find on both the
standard definition and HD DVD releases. What Warner Home Video calls an
"Introduction" by survivor co-stars Eric Laneuville (Richie) and Paul
Koslo (Dutch), along with screenwriter Joyce Corrington is an odd piece of new
content. It doesn't actually introduce anything, as the film begins the minute
you place the disc in your player. Nor does is go into any real depth behind the
production. It's more or less a collection of remembrances and not from the
people you would have most like to hear tell. Sagal died in 1981, Heston has
been in seclusion since Bowling for Columbine, Rosalind Cash passed away
in 1995, and Zerbe has much better things to do with his time. "The Last
Man Alive" is an interesting promo piece shot during production and
features Heston and noted anthropologist Ashley Montagu discussing the
psychological ramifications of being the last man on earth, in a strangely,
seemingly scripted exchange. And it's all topped off with the original
theatrical trailer.

The Omega Man is a fascinating installment in Matheson adaptations,
sandwiched nicely between Vincent Price's The Last Man on Earth and Will
Smith's I am Legend. While not brilliant filmmaking by any means, it does
effectively captures Heston doing what he did best, cheese and all. Not a bad
way to spend an hour and a half.